Codepolice

I wanted to link to a couple of of apps on the Zune marketplace today. Easier said then done. But i figured it out at last. Start with a link like this:

http://social.zune.net/redirect?type=phoneApp&id=APPID&source=Codepolice

Type is kind of obvious, ID is the one i had some problems with and source is just used for tracking and is optional.

How do i find the ID?

I spent 30 minutes on Google trying to figure this out and the only thing i found was this dude who had the same question. After a while i realized that Zune is of course using http to communicate with the world as everything else and since i have Fiddler installed i started it and browsed to an app in the Zune Marketplace and there i found it! Quick walkthough:

1. If you do not have Fiddler just download it from their website.
2. Start Fiddler and then browse to an application in the Marketplace with your Zune Software. You should see stuff happening in Fiddler.
3. In the URL column look for a a URL looking something like this: http://catalog.zune.net/v3.2/en-GB/apps/981750c8-24cc-df11-9eae-00237de2db9e/?version=latest&clientType=WinMobile%207.0&store=Zest
4. The long string (it’s a GUID) you see in green above is the ID you looking for.
5. Just copy the ID into the URL and you have a fine link.

Final result: http://social.zune.net/redirect?type=phoneApp&id=981750c8-24cc-df11-9eae-00237de2db9e&source=Codepolice

Let’s hope Microsoft make this a bit easier soon.